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February 24, 2006

Friday links: Ask a Mexican; Indie musicians turn down Hummer ads; 21 ports in Dubai deal?

Some quick hits on a busy morning:

Ask A Mexican: Irreverent OC Weekly column confronts impolite questions head on.

President’s men with chicken: That's the actual headline from the Calcutta, India, Telegram Wednesday about the arrival of the presidential party in advance of the Bushes' four-hour visit to Hyderabad March 3:

Since yesterday, 80 men and five helicopters — to ferry Bush and wife around Hyderabad — have landed in the city. So has a US air force plane with two containers of special communication and surveillance equipment.

Members of the Presidential Food Service have brought along their own frozen chicken from the US, besides vegetables, marmalade, sauces, cooking fat, cheese, salt and sugar, and are getting ready to set up shop at the Grand Kakatiya, where the Americans have booked 140 of the 185 rooms.

“They have even brought water purifiers and their own laundry machines as the security and communication teams have to spend over four days in the city,” police said.

That's too bad. Indian food is really good. (Chicken Tikka Masala!)

Bah Hummer: Indie rockers reject big money from the king of gas guzzlers. Austin 360. Hummer ads want to use their songs, but the tank's bad environmental rep has starving artists turning down wads of cash.

Serious:

UAE terminal takeover extends to 21 ports: UPI.

A United Arab Emirates government-owned company is poised to take over port terminal operations in 21 American ports, far more than the six widely reported.

The Bush administration has approved the takeover of British-owned Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to DP World, a deal set to go forward March 2 unless Congress intervenes.

P&O is the parent company of P&O Ports North America, which leases terminals for the import and export and loading and unloading and security of cargo in 21 ports, 11 on the East Coast, ranging from Portland, Maine to Miami, Florida, and 10 on the Gulf Coast, from Gulfport, Miss., to Corpus Christi, Texas, according to the company's Web site.

The ports list on the P&O site includes Boston and Davisville, R.I., the onetime Seabee facility at Quonset Point. (We have a reporter checking this now.)

Ted Koppel: Will Fight for Oil

Posted by Sheila Lennon at 11:16 AM | Permalink